Ep. 581 "Hack Your Vagus Nerve” – Simple Daytime Rituals To End 3:00 AM Wake-Ups

Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Cynthia Thurlow

Science, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Alternative Health

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to this week’s Midlife Minute episode. Today, I answer a question from a 55-year-old postmenopausal woman on HRT who still wakes up multiple times at night. I also explore the factors that tend to affect women’s sleep in midlife and offer practical strategies for better sleep. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How sleep apnea shows up differently in women than it does in men Why being constantly sympathetic dominant may interfere with your sleep How not eating enough protein, healthy carbohydrates, fiber, and healthy fats can spike your cortisol overnight How drops in progesterone and changes in estrogen can impact GABA and glutamate The importance of doing vagal exercise during the day and gearing down before bed Some simple vagus nerve practices to support relaxation How alterations in progesterone and estrogen impact neurotransmitters My favorite supplement for supporting sleep, and adaptogenic herbs that buffer cortisol Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia’s website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow Cynthia’s Menopause Gut Book is on presale now! Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Links: 1. Sleep and sleep disorders in the menopausal transition (Research Link) 2. The Sleep Goddess Reveals the Truth About Sleep, Menopause & Hidden Sleep Disorders | A. Matsumura (YouTube) 3. Pulsetto (Affiliate link): Discount code: CYNTHIA

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast.
0:04.0	I'm your host, Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Thurlow.
0:07.0	This podcast is designed to educate, empower, and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals.
0:13.0	My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the health and wellness industry each week and impact over a million lives.
0:29.0	This is the start of a new Thursday series called The Midlife Minute that is really designed to address listeners questions in a little bit
0:40.0	longer length of time and or deeper dive into topics. Ideally, we're going to keep these
0:46.2	podcasts under 20 minutes. Occasionally, we may go over to 30, but I'm trying to reinforce
0:52.5	some key concepts and ensure that I'm addressing listeners' questions
0:58.5	in a way that's really helpful.
1:00.5	So the questions that I will be addressing topics are going to be items that I'm being asked over and over and over again.
1:06.5	I hope you enjoy this series.
1:08.1	Please share with your friends.
1:09.7	And as you know know you can always send
1:11.7	your questions to support at cynthia thurlow dot com i appreciate each and every listener
1:17.5	we are back for another midlife minute and i'm pulling questions from my free facebook
1:26.5	group the midlife pause backslash my name.
1:29.3	These are some really great questions and they're ones that we are asked frequently.
1:33.2	This is a question from Jennifer, but it's long enough that I could literally answer it in a
1:37.7	podcast episode. I'm 55 postmenopausal. I take 200 milligrams of oral progesterone,
1:44.0	melatonin, and magnesium before bed.
1:46.6	I'm also on an estrogen patch and testosterone. I used to wake up so much before HRT that I had
1:52.7	no idea how bad my sleep was. My husband worked nights for 17 years, so I didn't sleep great
	...

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